Vitor Pereira issues four new Wolves injury updates ahead of Bournemouth FA Cup clash

Wolves manager Vitor Pereira has confirmed eight members of the first team will not be available for Saturday’s pivotal FA Cup fifth round visit to Bournemouth.

The Old Gold will have to repeat last weekend’s heroics at the Vitality Stadium with the same set of players, with no returnees expected in time for the game which could earn a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals for a second year running.

Wolves of course ran out 1-0 victors at the same ground less than a week ago but Bournemouth had 10 men for much of the encounter, so the next meeting will be a different kettle of fish. The Cherries will also be looking for a response as they lost again on Tuesday, 2-1 away at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Pereira was asked about Wolves’ injury situation following Tuesday’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Fulham and there were no promising updates. Instead, the head coach reckons all those sidelined will remain so for a while longer yet.

“I think not,” Pereira said when asked if anyone could return against Bournemouth. “Rodrigo (Gomes), (Hwang) Hee Chan, (Emmanuel) Agbadou not. (Goncalo) Guedes I don’t know, he did an MRI and he has some problem in the knee. Maybe it will not be possible to play. We must go there with the same players.”

The other four players definitely out are central defender Yerson Mosquera, winger Enso Gonzalez and striker pairing Leon Chiwome and Sasa Kalajdzic who are all expected to miss the rest of the season with serious knee problems.

Munetsi marshalled into auxiliary role

Meanwhile, Jorgen Strand Larsen has returned with two appearances off the bench but Pereira still isn’t confident the striker is ready for starts. Instead, winter signing Marshall Munetsi - a box-to-box midfielder by trade - has been filling in up front.

“The only striker we have is Larsen in this moment and he came from an injury,” Pereira said. “He’s not fit yet, he’s trying to get his condition. I am afraid if he gets injured again it will be a big problem for us.”

Munetsi has settled in fairly well to the Wolves setup but he’s not had much choice other than doing so as Pereira has thrust him in at the deep end. The Zimbabwean was expected to compete with the likes of Andre, Joao Gomes and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde for a midfield spot - replacing the outgoing Mario Lemina - but he’s instead found himself in a far more advanced position.

The energy from Munetsi has been seriously impressive so far as he’s showcased the ability to sprint from end of the field to the other in a short period of time to get heavily involved in both boxes. His finishing has left plenty to be desired, though, with a huge miss at Bournemouth last week and a shot saved one-on-one by Alisson against Liverpool at Anfield.

Pereira has heaped praise on Munetsi, recently penning in his programme notes: “What I'm asking from him is to help the team as a midfielder and to appear from the back into the box, and he had another situation to score, but every time he appears there, he has a chance to score.

*But what I like is he can miss a chance in the opponent's box and then after 30 seconds, he is defending in our box. This is what we wanted when we looked for him. We wanted to find a physical midfielder who can support the other two midfielders.”

In other news, Fulham boss Marco Silva has given his honest assessment of Wolves and the Old Gold’s chances of avoiding relegation to the Championship.